In The Mourning
by ajaidreamaway
Summary: Jade takes a trip down memory lane for her speech at Cat's funeral. Cade friendship. One-shot. *T for character death/suicide*


_**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. Credit to Paramore for the title.**_

* * *

"One week." Jade announced in a raspy voice, "It's been a whole week since Cat left." She gulped, fumbling absentmindedly with the hastily written speech in front of her. "It's weird, her not being here. We've always been together, ever since we were seven."

* * *

_"Now, class, this is Caterina Valentine." Mrs. King announced to her class, "She's new. Does anyone want to show her around?" She pushed the small brunette forwards slightly. Jadelyn West stared curiously at the little girl, she was intrigued by her. Perhaps it was the brown doe eyes, or her dark curly hair, but Jade had to talk to her for some reason. _

_"Uh, Jadelyn?" The teacher looked at Jade in surprise, it was a shock to most people, Jade didn't really like interaction. "Okay then, take Caterina around the school. Come back straight afterwards, though." She warned, raising her eyebrow. Jade nodded and gestured for Caterina to follow her._

_"So... Why did you come here?" Jade asked awkwardly._

_"My brother got moved to the mental institute here, we wanted to be with him." Caterina answered honestly, a slight skip in her step as she bounded along next to Jade, trying to keep up with her hastened pace._

_"Can I call you Cat? Caterina's a silly name." She was testing the new girl by changing track, if she could keep up, then perhaps Jade would let her be a friend._

_"Sure, I love cats!" The new girl squealed excitedly, "But only if I can call you Jade. Jadelyn's a silly name." She retorted, a twinkle in her eye. Jade smiled at Cat, they were going to get on just fine._

* * *

"Our friendship never changed, not even when we hit high-school. We were always going to be together, Jade&Cat, in their own little world."

* * *

_"I'm scared, Jade. This place is huge." Cat began chewing her bottom lip nervously._

_"We'll be fine. Look, we have most of the same classes together." Jade said, trying to reassure her best friend. _

_"Yes, but that's not all of them. I don't know the rest of these people." Cat cast her eyes downwards, attempting to steer clear of all the people around. Her vision was becoming blurry, she was going to cry. Jade noticed and softened her gaze, she looked about before grabbing Cat's hand, pulling her in the opposite direction of the Asphalt Cafe, the place they were supposed to eat lunch._

_"Where are we going?" Cat asked desperately, following Jade's lead. The older girl halted in front of a janitor's closet, she guided Cat inside and shut the door behind the both of them._

_"Don't worry, Cat." She hushed the (now) red-head and sat on the cabinet. "This school's for talented people, we're going to fit in just fine." Jade reassured Cat._

_"I don't know, they're all really intimidating. What if they hate me?" Cat began blubbering uncontrollably, tears falling freely down her face. Jade couldn't bear seeing her best friend like this, she shoved herself off of the cabinet and hugged Cat tightly, playing with her hair absentmindedly. After a few minutes of just holding each other, the two girls stepped back, Jade holding Cat's shoulders to steady her._

_"Listen, you're incredibly talented. People would have to be blind not to notice that. Anyway, who cares if we don't fit in? We've got each other, that's all that matters." _

_"Thanks, Jade." Cat smiled, wiping away her tears. "You're the best."_

* * *

"I wasn't always the friend Cat deserved, I'll be the first to admit it. But she was always there for me. And for that, I am eternally grateful."

* * *

_"Look, Cat. I'm sorry, but Beck really wants to see this movie." Jade pleaded._

_"No! We had this girls' night planned ages ago." Cat said stubbornly._

_"Just invite Tori round, or Trina!" Jade suggested._

_"It's not the same and you know it." Cat stamped her foot impatiently._

_"Don't be so childish, if you had a boyfriend you'd understand." Jade spat back, heat rose to Cat's cheeks._

_"Why are you being like this? Ever since you started dating Beck, you've been ignoring me. I'm sick of it." Cat cried, tears welling up._

_"For god's sake, you're such a baby." Jade huffed, crossing her arms determinedly. "I'm going out with Beck tonight." _

_"Fine, see if I care!"_

* * *

"Whatever problem we had, we sorted it out. Because that's what friends do. They argue, then they forgive."

* * *

_"I'm really sorry." Jade sniffed, she'd been crying when she fully realised the things she'd said to Cat._

_"It's fine, Jade. I shouldn't be so selfish." Cat admitted, pulling her best friend into a hug._

_"No, it was rude of me to mess up our plans. I won't do it again."_

_"Seriously, it's fine. Sometimes it's hard to divide up time between two people you care about, don't be sorry." Cat smiled, wiping away Jade's tears._

_"It seems the roles have been reversed." Cat giggled._

* * *

"I should've noticed something was up with Cat, she wasn't acting the same. But I was too wrapped up in my own problems to notice, or even to care."

* * *

_"Hey, Cat." Jade greeted her best friend._

_"Hi." Cat sounded off, something wasn't right. The red-head didn't have the sparkle in her eye, her hair was sloppily pulled up and she barely had any makeup. _

_"Are you okay?" Jade asked curiously, "Are things good with Robbie?" _

_"No." Cat's voice cracked, "He likes Tori, I can tell." _

_"Don't be ridiculous. I had the same thing with Beck, sure he's over-friendly with her, but I finally trust him enough to believe him." Jade said, trying to use her own issues to make Cat feel better._

_"But Robbie's not Beck, he wants her. It's because she's skinnier than me. She's prettier too, and more talented." Cat threw her head into her arms, sobs wracking her body._

_"No he doesn't, besides, you're fine just the way you are." Jade said awkwardly, she'd been spending more time with Beck and less time with Cat, she wasn't sure how to act around her anymore._

_"Maybe I should just die." Jade's ears pricked up, she wasn't sure if those were Cat's exact words, but they sounded extremely similar._

_"C-Cat, why would you say something like that?" She asked, a lump in her throat. Cat was one of the happiest people alive, it wasn't good for her to think like that._

* * *

"I should've been there for her more, I get that now. I was too late."

* * *

_Jade was on her way to surprise Cat, she'd bought over a few of her favourite movies. She felt bad for yesterday's conversation during lunch, she needed to make Cat feel better and forget about Tori and Robbie. Jade smiled to herself as she pushed her bags up higher on her shoulders to reach the hidden key under the plant pot, she'd also purchased some red velvet cupcakes, again, Cat's favourite._

_Jade hummed to herself as she set the bags carefully on the sofa, she knew Cat's parents would be out at work, so she was able to turn the television to a higher volume. She popped in a Disney movie before setting the cupcakes on the kitchen counter, Jade looked around for Cat, she wasn't downstairs. This was the trouble with surprising people, you never knew where they were. Jade sighed to herself before tip-toeing upstairs, not wanting to give herself away too early._

_Jade turned Cat's bedroom door slowly, "SUR-" She stopped dead, mid-yell. There, dangling from the ceiling fan, was Caterina Valentine. Jade let out an ear-piercing scream before clapping her hand to her mouth, she couldn't believe it. Jade took a step closer to the body, was it really Cat?_

_"No." She murmured._

_"No." Jade repeated, louder this time._

_"NO." She shouted, falling to the floor in tears._

* * *

"Cat was wonderful, she was the purest person out there. She didn't deserve to feel worthless, she was perfect in my eyes. She didn't deserve any of this. It sickens me when I remember how she was before her death, maybe she's better of where she is. But I'm not. Truthfully, I don't know how I'll cope without her, she was my rock. Cat would like all these people here, she'd feel appreciated. It's nice to see others here who loved her, like I did."

* * *

**A/N: Just a quick little one-shot to make up for my absence. This was a quick idea, I apologise if it's not the best, but I like how it turned out :)**


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